North Carolina's Democratic drama

5/12/12 11:46 PM EDT

It's been a rough week for North Carolina Democrats.

First there was Tuesday's passage of the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Then, as a result, there were calls from gay rights activists to move the Democratic National Convention out of Charlotte. On Friday, Gov. Bev Perdue said her state looked like Mississippi as a result of the gay marriage vote -- and she didn't mean it as a compliment. All the while, the state's former senator, John Edwards, was on trial in Greensboro.

And just when it looked like things couldn't get messier, on Saturday came this news out of the party's State Executive Committee meeting in Greensboro: Chairman Dan Parker, who state elected officials and national Democrats had been pushing to step down to quell the furor surrounding a sexual harassment scandal at party headquarters, intends to remain in his post.

David Parker, the besieged state Democratic Party chairman, said Saturday that he would remain in his post after the party’s ruling committee voted not to accept his resignation.

In doing so, Parker defied pressure from party leaders from Washington to Raleigh to step aside because of the concern that his handling of sexual harassment accusations by a staffer would damage the party’s efforts in the fall.

In a day filled with high drama and at times chaos and anger, Parker first tendered his resignation in an emotional speech to the state Democratic Executive Committee. He left the hotel to clean out his office in Raleigh, only to return hours later to announce that he would remain as chairman.

By hanging on, Parker all but ensures the narrative in advance of the national convention is going to focus on the unfolding swing state drama. And it's going to provide even more ammunition for the Republican National Committee, which released a memo Friday titled "Obama’s Disaster in North Carolina."

For Democrats, there's at least one ray of hope: On July 30, just a few weeks before the Republican National Convention in Tampa, former Florida GOP state chair Jim Greer goes in trial in Orlando on criminal fraud charges.